Ricoh Danielson

Note: Anyone interested in subscribing to the USA
Together’s news alerts can submit their email addresses on the
organization’s website to be notified. Interested donors can tailor
any donations to a specific state where veterans are requesting
help, or even a specific veteran.

USA Together is becoming known as the Craigslist for wounded
warriors.

And so far, nearly 600 American servicemen who were seriously
injured or disabled during tours of service have been helped
through hardships by receiving either private or in-kind
contributions from the California-based nonprofit organization for
essential needs after they have been discharged from the military.
Of those servicemen and women, about 12 from Arizona have been
helped, including at least one from the East Valley.

Army veteran Ricoh Danielson of Gilbert, who followed in the
footsteps of his father to serve in the military, is one of the
many hundreds of veterans who was helped by USA Together.
Danielson, who was seriously injured in an explosion during the war
in Iraq and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and
physical disabilities, later was helped with health insurance,
groceries and three months of mortgage assistance when he was
unemployed and his savings were depleted.

“This is very tough for me to ask, but I am looking for assistance
until I can find another job,” Danielson wrote at the time.

Although Danielson, 29, continues to have physical problems with
shrapnel in his stomach and leg, among other injuries, he began
working a job three weeks ago as a quality analyst in Scottsdale to
help support his family.

Danielson said Tuesday that he found out about USA Together after
discussing his situation with various veterans agencies, including
federal recovery coordinators. He is grateful for the help he
received.

“I was just expecting a few dollars for help, and USA Together
helped me with major bills for three months,” Danielson said. “They
helped me out quite a bit. They also identified other organizations
for me that could provide assets and reached out to employment
organizations who could help me.”

Overall, USA Together has provided more than $300,000 in assistance
to disabled veterans, not including the cost of in-kind donations
such as a piece of furniture, car or home repairs.

USA Together was formed about four years ago by Dave Mahler, a
former Silicon Valley executive who recognized the need for an
online avenue where veterans could seek help without going through
the paperwork and red tape to receive help from other organizations
while being able to tell their own stories and make requests for
their needs.

Mahler, who founded Remedy, a company that provided IT support
desks, began organizing USA Together after stopping at the Palo
Alto Veterans Administration and discussing the plan to help
fulfill the needs of wounded soldiers through the power of the
Internet.

Mahler told the Tribune he used to drive past the Veterans
Administration home in Palo Alto every day and decided one day to
stop in and talk to the public affairs officials about the
challenges facing military families after hearing about the number
of casualties on the radio.

“One of the lessons that we learned from the Vietnam War is that we
should support our troops,” Mahler said. “After talking to the
public affairs officer, I got together with some of my friends,
talked about it, and we just wanted to do our part to stand up for
those who stood up and served our country. These are the most
humble, polite requests for help. No one is asking for a new
flat-screen TV for their living room.”

Veterans’ requests have ranged from seeking help to repair a broken
window, the construction of a wheelchair ramp at their home or
buying groceries.

A team of about 14 volunteers now works to review a veteran’s
needs, verify through documentation that the individual requesting
assistance served in the military and is in some way disabled.
Volunteers also review a veteran’s story and request before it is
posted on the USA Together website, www.USAtogether.org. Most of
the veterans seeking assistance have served in either Iraq or
Afghanistan, but the organization is open to helping all veterans.
Funds to help veterans are directly channeled to whatever agency
needs to be paid such as the utility company.

“For some reason, when people hear of wounded warriors, they think
they are from somewhere else in the country,” Mahler said. “They’re
often shocked to hear that these veterans are in their own
community. We are moved when we hear about an individual case
instead of just being aware of a generic problem. This is one of
the good things the Internet can be used for, and we hope that more
people become aware of us and know that there are veterans out
there who need help.”